


Five Times Otabek Altin Didn't Date Yuri Plisetsky And One Time That He Did

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Birthday, Birthday Party, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Character's Name Spelled as Yuri, Crossdressing, DJ Otabek Altin, Established Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Humor, Katsuki Yuuri and Victor Nikiforov's Wedding, Lack of Communication, M/M, Married Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Otabek Altin & Yuri Plisetsky Are Best Friends, Time Skips, Yuri Plisetsky Being Yuri Plisetsky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:48:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23241997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: "Let's go together,"That's what had started it all, a suggestion from Yura about attending Viktor and Yuri Katsuki's wedding together, that had slowly descended into what could only be described as a year-long battle with confusion and mixed signals as Otabek tries to navigate the ins and outs of their relationshipOr: Otabek isn't quite sure if he and Yura are dating, it's a little vague
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 6
Kudos: 159





	Five Times Otabek Altin Didn't Date Yuri Plisetsky And One Time That He Did

**Author's Note:**

  * For [venom_for_free](https://archiveofourown.org/users/venom_for_free/gifts).



> For Venom, some Otayuri fluff <3

"Are you going to Viktor and Katsudon's stupid wedding?"

Otabek raised an eyebrow, shifting his backpack a little bit higher on his shoulder as he stared down at the blonde in front of him

"Hello to you too Yura,"

"Ah, hi, are you going or not?"

Holding back a chuckle, Otabek gave only a small nod in response

"I suppose so,"

"Good, then let's go together,"

It was probably a good thing that Otabek wasn't holding anything- he would have dropped whatever it was if he had been

"...Together?" he repeated slowly

"Yeah, you know, those two are trying to get everybody's seating arrangements done," Yura paused momentarily to gag, "I figure I'll make it easy on them for once and say that you and I are going to go together so they put us at the same table, that way I'm guaranteed of having atleast _one_ person I can tolerate to talk to during the thing,"

"...Alright, we'll go together,"

Otabek didn't know it at the time, but those four simple words were about to unravel a long-term game of cat-and-mouse that neither of them actually realized they were playing

**I.**

"God, this is almost as insufferable as I imagined it would be," Yura spat, his nose wrinkled as he watched Yuri and Viktor celebrate their first dance together

"What's different?" Otabek asked curiously, eyebrows raised

"Well, originally, I thought they'd release doves during the kiss, thank GOD I was wrong,"

What Yura clearly didn't know was that a release of doves had been talked about but ultimately decided against for the sake of animal wellfare

"That.... would have certainly been.... _alot_..." Otabek agreed slowly

"Right? And yet I wouldn't have even been surprised,"

Otabek gave a soft chuckle, his expression warming a little as he watched the newlyweds indulge in their first dance

"It _is_ a nice ceremony though, atleast,"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I've been to quite a few weddings actually, this is one of the best ones,"

"Really? What's got you going to so many weddings? Got alot of freinds? Or do you just have the urge to get your romance on all the time?" Yura teased, though he was genuinely curious, Otabek didn't really seem like the casual wedding goer type

"I have a big family," Otabek replied, lips twitching up into a slight grin

"Seven sisters and sixteen cousins,"

Yura's mouth fell open, his eyes as wide as saucers

"That..... is alot of people......"

"Yeah, and I'm one of the youngest, so..."

"So no wonder you go to so many weddings," Yura concluded

Otabek gave a small nod, watching as other people slowly started to move onto the dance floor, now that the song had changed and the first dance was officially over

"Soooo do you actually _like_ weddings, or do you just get invited to them all the time and feel obligated to show up?" Yura asked curiously

"No I legitimately like them," Otabek replied with a small nod of his own

"You... do...?"

"Sure, weddings are a celebration of love between two people, they're wonderfull things, atleast that's how I personally feel,"

Yura felt his face heat up, biting his lip a little

He had never really thought about it that way before, but Otabek was right...

Clearing his throat, he suddenly reached out and took Otabek's hand

"Come on, I actually like this song, as unbelievable as it is that these two losers could choose any good music, I guess stranger things have happened,"

"I guess so," Otabek noted with a small smile of his own as he allowed Yura to lead him onto the dance floor

They danced through six songs, officially lasting longer than the newlyweds

It wasn't a competition, but.... well, Yura was bound to treat it like one anyway

"Wow, I can't believe you guys are still dancing!"

"Why not? Unlike the old men we have _plenty_ of energy!"

Mila laughed at that, vibrant and amused, clearly drawing Yura's ire

"I don't think that's what she was implying," Otabek said quietly

"I'm just saying that the date must be going pretty well if you're still out here, even Sara and I called it quits a wile back because we wanted to take a break and mingle a little,"

"Yeah well that's because you hags--... wait a minute, what date?"

Mila laughed again, only furthering Yura's agitation

"Oh Yuri, you're so cute, by the way, Viktor and _his_ Yuri are looking for you two, they're about to take off but wanted to say goodbye,"

Yura's nose wrinkled, clearly irritated

"Why the fuck should I care?"

"It's just a thought, they're taking a weekend honeymoon so you won't see them until Monday,"

"You say that as if you expect me to give a shit, and who takes any kind of vacation in the middle of the season?! Aren't they also planning to take one in June?!"

"I'm just relaying the message," Mila shrugged, waving to them as she practically skipped back to her date

"Well? Do you want to go say goodbye?" Otabek offered

"Tch... yeah, I guess, what the fuck ever," Yura grumbled back, grabbing Otabek's hand and tugging him along

He couldn't get what Mila said out of his mind though

Why exactly had she called Otabek his date...?

**II.**

"Well Beka? What do you think?"

Otabek glanced up from his watch, his face immediately turning red as he took in the sight before him

Yura was... _gorgeous_.....

Wich was hardly a surprise ofcourse, but.. Otabek had just never seen him quite like this before....

Dressed in a soft pink dress with his hair parted down the center and curled at the ends, kitten heels and a lace pink choker

Otabek thought he might just choke to death on his own tongue

"Don't worry, I'm gonna buy that cute sweatshirt at the concert, the pink one with Mel's picture on it?"

"Um... right...."

Yura narrowed his eyes, nose wrinkling

"What? Do I look bad in pink or something? 'Cause I can-"

"NO!! N-No... no no no no.... you... you don't... look bad at all.... i-in fact you look... you... look... _amazing_..."

Yura was quiet for a moment, before seeming to approve and nodding, moving closer to his freind and wrapping an arm around Otabek's shoulders, yanking him down so that their faces were smushed together and pulling his cell phone out of his pocket

"Smile or whatever,"

A few snaps later, Otabek had been released, his heart still pounding a little as the blonde started punching keys on the phone's touchpad

A second later, his phone vibrated, a signal that Yura had updated his social media most likely

"Kay, let's go, there's probably traffic,"

Otabek just nodded, somewhat obediently, and followed Yura out of the apartment

Otabek had come to Russia for a few weeks to spend his vacation time and wile there Yura had insisted that they go to the Melanie Martinez concert together

Otabek had been more than happy to oblige, even if he was still getting used to the music style himself, as it differed quite greatly in comparison to the heavy metal and hard rock that Yura was usually accustomed to listening to

But it was good music, he could easily admit to that much

He felt a wave of happiness pass over him as he usually did when Yura climbed onto the back of his bike and wrapped his arms around Otabek's waist, clinging to him as he started up the bike and rode into the city

As per usual, the drive was pleasant and peacefull, something that Otabek greatly enjoyed, nothing but the roar of the engine in his ears and the feeling of Yura's arms around him

Otabek could spend a lifetime in that moment and be totally happy with it, so he was almost sad when they had to park the bike and head towards the concert hall, Yura hooking his arm through Otabek's as they walked, fishing his phone out of his pocket with his free hand

"Ughh... fucking Katsudon!"

"What's wrong?"

"Would you look at this dumb comment he left under our selfie!?"

Taking the phone with only minor hesitation, Otabek quickly read the comment

_Aww, you guys make such a cute couple! Enjoy your date :)_

And above it, Otabek read the caption

_Off to K-12 with the my favorite person #Mybffisbetterthanyours_

"Isn't that fucking annoying?"

"..........................Uh-huh,"

Otabek didn't exactly know what was supposed to be annoying about it, but it wasn't worth arguing over.... right?

**III.**

"Alright if I hear one more disgusting pop song I'm going to wring somebody's neck, put on some good music for fuck's sake!"

Viktor had to bite down on a laugh, knowing it wouldn't exactly be well received, and shook his head

"Well what do you recommend then?"

"Play some of Beka's music,"

"Sorry Yura, I don't have any of my music with me," Otabek frowned

"Well then just give Katsudon your phone and we'll listen to your playlist, I don't care, just as long as I don't have to hear another fucking rendition of _'Clarity'_ ,"

"We only listened to that twice," Yuri protested with a frown as Otabek handed over his phone

"That's two times too many," Yura grumbled back

"I still think that we should listen to only Disney songs, since we _are_ on our way to Disneyland," Viktor pointed out

"Tch, problem being it's a long drive to Disneyland and we'd run out of good Disney songs in twenty minutes,"

"What?! Who hurt you this way?! Disney songs are amazing!!"

"I have to agree, I may have a problem with Disney as a company but they still make amazing movies and music," Yuri agreed thoughtfully

Yura faked a gag, rolling his eyes

"Oh please, name ONE song before-"

_Take a trip into my garden, I've got so much to show you  
The fountains and the water are begging just to know you_

"Hey, I said no more pop shit!"

"I hate to tell you this Yura, but this is your boyfreind's playlist," Viktor snickered, clearly enjoying himself

Yura immediately went red, glancing at Otabek, who was a little pink-faced as well

"...Well I didn't realize it was Troye Sivan, it's fine, he's cool," Yura said quickly

"...The next one is Panic! At The Disco..."

"It's fine, really, I like it,"

"You know, just because you two are a couple, that doesn't mean you have to like the same things," Yuri pointed out from the front seat

"Yeah, Yuri and I like different things and we're still madly in love, he likes horror and I like romcoms, he likes cookies, I like cake, his favorite princess is Elsa and mine is Aurora-"

"Aurora? What fucking choice is that? She's barely a charector!"

Viktor gasped, clearly scandalized

"And what are you going on about anyway? You keep talking about Beka and I like we're getting married or some shit,"

"Well ofcourse not, not now anyway," Viktor hummed

"And Aurora is SO a charector, why would you ever be so mean?"

"She's boring, although I guess I get how she relates to you that way,"

"And who would YOUR favorite be then hm?" Viktor huffed

"Merida,"

"Oh why am I not surprised?"

"What about you Beka? Who's your favorite?" Yura asked, apparently eager to detour things from Viktor

"Mulan,"

"Oooh that's a good one!! She was my favorite too before Merida came out.. but I still like her alot!!"

Viktor chuckled softly, his expression warm as he stared over at his husband, listening to the two chattering in the backseat

"They're so adorable," he said softly, trying to keep his voice down so the other two wouldn't hear him

"I'm really glad we were able to do this, I think it'll be good for not only us, but for them too, young love is such a beautifull but fragile thing, it needs to be nurtured in order to blossom,"

Yuri nodded in agreement, letting the conversation in the back seat fade peacefully to the background for the time being

"Agreed, and with Otabek moving to St. Petersberg for next season, so much of what they see of eachother will be competitive, not all relationships can withstand that, and even the ones that do.... it's hard for it not to take a toll every once in a wile, having outtings like this is what will keep them from losing their minds when the competitive side gets to be overwelming,"

With the season about to start, Yuri had only narrowly managed to convince Yakov to let his two star athletes out from under his demanding thumb long enough for a week's trip to Hasetsu, siting that it would be good for them to have some time in the extremely relaxing and physically soothing hot springs before putting their bodies back through the ringer for the next seven months

Ultimately it was Yura who had pulled the last thread of convincing- if "convincing" meant "I'm doing it anyway so you might as well get used to it"

Yuri had the promise of the four of them going to Tokyo Disney to thank for that one

"I think they'll be able to handle it though," Viktor mused, glancing in the rear-veiw mirror at the two of them as Yura situated himself to lay his head on Otabek's shoulder, holding his phone up for both of them to see whatever was on the screen

"They seem like a pretty sure thing to me,"

Unbeknownst to Viktor, Otabek was listening to the conversation going on in front of him, and though he tried to pay attention to the cat videos Yura was currently showing him, his mind couldn't help but wander, and he couldn't help but wonder...

Were he and Yura a sure thing?

Were they something that was meant to be the way that Viktor and Yuri were?

He chuckled as he watched the kitten on the screen fall into the fish tank she had evidently been trying to fish in

He hoped so

He couldn't be sure if they were meant to be, if anything would ever come of this relationship besides freindship, but... he hoped so....

**IIII.**

"Otabek, hey!!"

Glancing up from packing his equipment, the DJ turned his attention to Leo as his freind approached

"That was a great set tonight,"

"Thanks,"

"You're not going home this early are you?"

With Skate America having just concluded that evening, Otabek having scored silver to rest comfortably between Yuri Katsuki's gold and Leo's bronze, the almost-21-year-old had managed to get a quick DJing gig at a local club, their flight back to St. Petersberg wasn't until late the next afternoon so he could stand to be out a bit late

"No, Yura wants to do some dancing before we go,"

"Oh, Yura's here?" Leo perked, earning a simple nod from Otabek

"That's great! Here I was thinking he'd have stayed back in St. Petersberg, doesn't he have Skate Canada next week?"

"Mm, he practically demanded Yakov let him come along though, I'll be going next week to cheer him on as well,"

It would be a bit of a breather actually, the two of them being able to travel _alone_ for once, with Viktor's assignments for the year being Cup Of China and the NHK and Yuri's secondary assignment being Rostlecom- and no, neither of them had stopped making little jokes and quips about competing in eachther's home countries yet not against eachother- neither of them had a reason to go along to Canada with he and Yura, it would be nice to have some time to themselves- well... discounting Yakov, but he tended to atleast give Yura _some_ space

Don't get him wrong, Otabek liked Viktor and Yuri just fine, he'd ever hesitantly consider them freinds, but he wanted to spend some time to just Yura and himself, and admittedly, the happily married couple _could_ get a little suffocating from time to time with just _how_ in love they were

It had nothing to do with the fact that Otabek was occasionally jealous of them, that he occasionally watched them hold eachother and indulge in kisses and make thinly veiled quips about their bedroom activities to eachother and made Otabek wish he could do those things with Yura

It had nothing to do with that _at all_

"Aw that's neat, I wish Guang Hong and I lived closer to eachother so we could do that, but I can't look forward to seeing him until the NHK,"

Leo was one person Otabek definitely _didn't_ envy though

He and Guang Hong had started dating officially during the off season when the younger of the two came to the U.S. to visit Leo for a month, but they were oceans away from eachother now and neither had the time, money, or capability to visit eachother during the on-season, their only chance to see eachother was if their competitions happened to line up together- wich, by a truly lucky swing of the pendulum, happened to occur in late November this time for the NHK- but even then they'd have to spend most of their time working against eachother and would only get a few days to even see eachother

Otabek remembered the year that he and Yura spent in different countries with little fondness, he couldn't imagine actually being a couple and only being able to spend 90% of their time together through a computer screen or a phone...

"Maybe he'll move here someday," Otabek offered comfortingly

"You mean like you did with Yura?" Leo smiled warmly, though there was a tinge of bittersweetness there still

"I wish, but it's a little easier to move from a small rink in Kazakhstan to a huge one the next country over than it is to go from a huge rink to another huge rink oceans away, and G has a coach, wich makes things harder,"

"Maybe you can pull a Nikiforov and become his _new_ coach, problem solved,"

Atleast that made Leo laugh, his expression sweetening a little

"Well speaking of romantic woes, you mentioned Yura was here to dance with you, are you two finally..?"

Before Otabek could try to answer, there was an arm around his waist, startling him only breifly before he glanced down at the familiar head of blonde hair beside him

"Beka! You done packing up? They're gonna start playing Queen soon!"

"Yeah, I'm done,"

"Great! Let's go dance!"

Apparently Yura was completely disregarding Leo, if he was even aware of the other man's presence to begin with

Otabek stumbled after his freind as the blonde yanked roughly on his hand, tossing Leo a breifly apologetic look

"Apparently my question has been answered, you'd better text me the details later!" Leo laughed pleasantly, waving the two of them off as Yura pulled Otabek onto the dance floor, giving little hesitation before wrapping his arms around Otabek's neck and pressing up against him, a grin on his face

"What are you supposed to text Leo about?" he asked curiously, doing some sort of little full-body shimmy down the length of Otabek's body

Otabek thought that he might die from this- but it would be a pleasant death

"Um..."

He knew the answer to the question

Leo was now under the impression that Otabek and Yura were a couple, something that he had been insisting for the past year that Otabek inform him of immediately after happening

The problem was that Otabek hadn't thought they _were_ dating

He _still_ didn't think they were dating, but.... could he be wrong?

The way Yura was rubbing against him now, dirty dancing practically on top of him, the look in those gorgeous green eyes and the way his lips ticked up into a smile that almost looked _seductive_....

Had they really been dating this entire time?

If so, when had that started?

When had they gone from freindship to something more?

And what if Otabek was wrong in the first place?

What if this really _was_ just freindship and Otabek was misreading all of the signals?

He didn't know....

He couldn't say.....

"I'm not sure,"

That was the truth of it really

What was he supposed to tell Leo if Otabek didn't know himself?

**V.**

By some lucky stroke of fate, neither Otabek nor Yura had been assigned to Internationaux De France, meaning that they were both free and clear to celebrate Otabek's birthday- and Halloween- in full swing

They decided to do so by holding a Halloween party, marking the first time either would get to indulge in such a thing in the last few years

Yura had come up with a great plan for matching costumes, even crafting something of a story to go along with their outfits

He was sure that they would be the most stunning pair at the party.....

Until, ofcourse, Viktor and Yuri got there

"I don't even fucking believe this," the blonde grumbled irritably, eyes narrowing as he stomped towards the other two, jabbing a finger accusingly towards them

"What are you two idiots doing?"

"Hanging up our coats...?" Viktor guessed with an innocent and overly cute tilt of his head

"I mean with the costumes, where do you get off trying to upstage us on Beka's birthday!?"

"I wasn't aware that we were doing that,"

"Yeah right," Yura grumbled, nose wrinkling

The two idiots were dressed like Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, complete with makeup, and Yura was a _little_ irritated about it

"Really, we weren't trying to upstage anyone, we just thought they'd be cute," Yuri promised with the same soft and sweet innocence

Yura was _disgusted_

"Besides, you look great anyway, are you guys cosplaying anyone in particular or just dressed as vampires?"

Otabek started to answer, but before he could get further than "Just vamp-"

"Well we're not _just_ vampires," Yura corrected quickly, an arm wrapping around Otabek's waist

"We're not specific charectors or anything but we _do_ have a story! I'm a really old vampire- like, _really_ old- and I was going to kill Beka after feeding on him but I decided I liked him so much that I was just gonna keep him for myself so I turned him instead,"

"Wow, that's a really cute story!" Viktor chimed, grinning from ear to ear

"Yeah, cool backstory for your costumes," Yuri agreed with an excited nod

"Yeah well, you should expect nothing less, I always make things as perfect as I can for Beka's birthday," Yura said with a haughty smirk, crossing his arms over his chest

"We noticed," Viktor chuckled, turning his attention towards Otabek and smiling politely as he handed him a small, nicely wrapped box

"Happy birthday Otabek, from Yuri and I,"

"Oh... thank you..." he noted slowly, peeling the wrapping papper off of the box with care

"A portable coffee maker?"

"We know you like traveling, we figure it might be nice for you to have fresh coffee wherever you go," Viktor explained with a bright smile

Otabek looked a little stunned, before his face softened into a warm, if a bit awkward, smile

"Thank you, really, this was very nice of you two,"

"Oh don't worry about it! You're practically a member of the family at this point," Viktor winked, pouting when Yuri gave him a pointed look and a clear of his throat

"I mean... if that's something you two _want_ to do ofcourse," Viktor added quickly

"Eh? What are you two idiots yapping about now?" Yura grumbled back, arms crossed over his chest and nose wrinkled

"Oh nothing~"

Yeah, Yura believed that as much as he believed that dinosaurs would rise up from their fossils and once more walk the earth (that'd be cool though, about the dinosaurs, not about Viktor's really shitty attempt at lying)

"Whatever, come on Beka, I want to show you my gift," Yura insisted a second later, grabbing Otabek's hand and tugging him away from the irritants that he ad, until recently, been forced to live with

God was he ever glad that he had gotten his own apartment with Otabek when the bronze-medalist finally moved to Russia...

"Here, you're going to like mine _much_ better than their's," he said with certainty, grabbing a tiger-stripe printed wrapped box from behind the kitchen counter and practically shoving it at the other man

Otabek blinked, a little startled, but unwrapped it a second later, the color draining from his face as he stared down at the image on the box

"Wireless headphones? Yura..... Yura these are the kind professional DJs use....."

"Yeah no shit, do you know how many people I had to ask about what the best brand was? God it's so annoying, online reveiws are _zero help_ ,"

"These must have cost you a fortune, I can't accept these," he insisted with a small frown

"You'd _better_ accept them, open the box Beka,"

Otabek looked like he had just seen a ghost, but with some minor reluctance, peeled the tape off of the top, pulled out the extremely well-packaged headphones, and stared in utter amazement at the device

His name was monogrammed in beautifull golden Kazakh script across each of the ear peices, looking sleek and expensive on the black surface

"Can't take them back if they're personalized," Yura noted, leaning over and giving Otabek's shoulder a playfull shove

Otabek didn't smile or roll his eyes or shove back though, instead he gently set the headphones aside in one quick motion wrapped himself around Yura, hugging as tightly as he could

"O-Oh uh.... heeey there.... you ok big guy?"

"This is the nicest thing anyone has ever given me, and I don't just mean in terms of price, I.... Yura..... 'thank you' isn't... _enough_..."

"Don't... don't get so worked up ok? It's fine, it's... don't worry about it, I'm a gold medalist, if Viktor can afford his dumbass golden skates and stupid vintage car I can afford some nice headphones for my best freind... it's not like I bought you an island you know,"

Otabek knew

He knew far more than what Yura was giving him credit for

Gold medalist or not, Yura faced alot of challenges that Viktor didn't that put a serious strain on his bank account, and despite being a prodigy and an Olympian, Viktor still had a longer history and a bigger reputation that drew more attention to him than Yura could get his hands on now, and even if none of that was true, even if he and Viktor _were_ the same....

This gift, the _thoughtfullness_ piled on top of the expense, was far beyond what Otabek had ever considered going into some simple birthday gift

Yura's birthday was in March

He had four months to figure out how he could top this, and by God he'd put those four months to use

"Awww you two are so cute,"

Startled, Otabek pulled back, frowning at Mila as she leaned languidly over the kitchen counter

"Scram hag! Beka and I are having a moment!" Yura snipped irritably

"Awww Yuriiiii~ You and your boyfreind can make out later, we want to cut the cake!!"

"Shut up! We weren't making out!" Yura snapped, glaring at Mila pointedly

"Suuuuure you weren't," Mila winked, and although Otabek knew she meant it teasingly, Yura clearly didn't take it that way

He looked like he was getting ready to go feral on her, only staying put thanks to Otabek's steady hand resting on his shoulder

"I hate to even _suggest_ she's right but... I could use some cake myself, c'mon, it's your favorite flavor,"

With a cheery smile that looked almost alien on Yura's otherwise scowling face, he tugged Otabek out of the kitchen

Otabek followed without resistance, but he was left wondering about Yura's reaction to the accusation

Was he angry because Mila thought he and Otabek were a couple, or because she interrupted their private moment?

Was he genuinely upset or just flustered?

There had been so many moments over the last few months where Otabek wondered where the lines in their relationship were, and wile he usually didn't really mind being left in the dark- he never thought relationships needed labels, really- he couldn't help feeling as this case in particular required a bit of clarity

Weather or not he and Yura were a couple was something of an important distinction to make

"Hang on, I have to get candles,"

Yura let go of him for a moment, heading back to the kitchen just as Otabek's phone pinged with a new message from Leo

_Hey, you never told me about you and Yuri! Are you two together or...?_

Good question....

Otabek wasn't quite sure himself....

**I.**

"Katsudon and Viktor invited us to some dumb Christmas party,"

So Otabek may not be the bravest person when it came to actually asking Yura about their relationship status, considering it had been over a month since his birthday and he still hadn't quite managed to summon up the courage to do so

But he was determined to do so before the new year, that was what mattered, right?

He just needed an opening

"I mean it's practically a birthday party for Viktor, even though they're nto actually having it _on_ Christmas, but wanna go anyway? We could probably get free food and wear tacky matching ugly Christmas sweaters, I saw a pair the other day that had 'I'm naughty' and 'I'm nice' written on them in LED lights,"

_Hello opening_

"Yura.... do you think Viktor and Katsuki will be wearing matching Christmas sweaters?"

"Huh? Probably, those two are fucking insufferable enough for it,"

He called it insufferable and yet he just suggested they do the exact same thing...

"Well... doesn't that seem kind of like a.... couples.... thing to do?"

"What's your point?" Yura asked blankly, stepping past Otabek and the box of Christmas lights he was currently untangling as he placed another ornament on the tree

"My point is that.... Viktor and Katsuki are going to wear them because they're a couple.... so we would wear them because.....?"

".....Because we're better than them?" Yura asked slowly, clearly not seeing where this was going

"Ah... no.... that's not what I meant...."

"Beka, don't worry about it! They tried and _failed_ to show us up at _your_ birthday party, now _we_ will do it at _Viktor's_ , although really we'll have to come up with something alot grosser than the naughty and nice thing, I saw this really really cool one with a plush cat coming out of it surrounded by lights that said _I wish you a meowy Christmas_ but that sorta thing wouldn't work 'cause these sweaters have to be _ugly_ and _tacky_ , not adorable,"

Otabek took a moment to rub his face, clearly exhausted by the discussion already

"OH!!! Beka! I have the BEST idea! Do you think we have time to get a custom made set with Viktor's and Katsudon's faces on them!?"

"...No..."

"Really? I mean we've got like two weeks..."

"No I just meant-"

He paused, pursing his lips

"Are we a couple or not?"

Yura actually looked surprised by that, his expression sobering, his mouth falling slightly open as he blinked down at his freind

".....What brings that up?"

"The fact that I don't know, Yura.... sometimes I feel like we're just freinds but other times I feel like we're something more-"

" _Ofcourse_ we're more than just freinds! We're _BEST_ freinds! We're-"

"Something _romantic_ ," Otabek interrupted, successfully managing to quiet his roommate

For a moment, Yura was quiet, before slowly moving to sit down on the floor across from Otabek

"Do you..... _want_ to be more?"

"I...... yes, I have for a long time but I haven't wanted to... risk _you_ not... wanting to be... do _you_ want to be more?"

Simultaneously, it felt like a massive weight was lifted off of his chest and as though that same weight had sunk into his stomach, his body thrumming with nervousness over how Yura would respond

But to his releif, the blonde smiled, albeit shyly, his face a bit red as he moved to sit down next to the bronze-medalist

"I.. yeah, I've wanted that for ages, I just... sorta.... I don't know, I thought everything was going so well on it's own that maybe it could... escalate without anything needing to be said?"

"Sooo....... all this time, we weren't dating, but we weren't... _not_... dating either?"

"Sounds about right,"

Yura sounded way too sure of that for Otabek's personal comfort level

"Then what does that mean for us now?"

"I think it means that we're... dating dating now," Yura proposed, albeit a little shyly, his face pink

"I like that idea," Otabek said quietly, leaning in a little bit closer, though he didn't risk kissing Yura, he didn't want to just _assume_ , and he didn't want to steal Yura's first kiss without his permission or before he was ready, kissing was a big deal, it would be Otabek's first kiss too and it should be handled with gentleness and care and sho-

Oh

Yura was kissing him

He surged forward and slammed into Otabek, and it was awkward and kind of all the right types of wrong, with too much eagerness from Yura and not enough excitement from Otabek, slowed down by being startled

But it melted

It deepened

It got better

Yura slowed down a little and Otabek caught up, gently cupping Yura's face with one hand as the other moved to gently rest over the blonde's, their fingers curling together a little as both of them actually relaxed and let themselves indulge, let themselves have what they had wanted so much for so long now

It was better than Otabek ever could have hoped

When finally they pulled apart, there was a spark in their eyes, both of them seeming to be on the same wavelength about their relationship for once- sureness, a feeling that this was _right_ , that they were together on this, that everything was the way it should be now

It was damn near _bliss_

"So.......... about those matching sweaters," Yura said slowly, a grin crossing his face

"What do you say we find some that _really_ lay on the 'couples' thing and come out as a couple at the Christmas party? That'll DEFINITELY show up Viktor's birthday,"

"Am I just a pawn in your never-ending plan to ruin Viktor Nikiforov's life?" Otabek asked blankly, although he wasn't serious, he knew what he was to Yura now

"Ofcourse not, you're _way_ more important than that..... ruiningViktor's life is just a helpfull perk,"

Yura winked, and Otabek chuckled, and somehow, the daunting vision of whatever horrible holiday sweaters Yura was going to end up getting for them didn't seem nearly so bad

Even the ugliest sweaters seemed attractive in Otabek's mind, with the idea that they actually meant something now

A sign of his and Yura's relationship

They were a couple- it was perfectly clear now


End file.
